Barfly: Summer's melons makes a tasty drink

SUMMER IS certainly better to some people than others. It was certainly good to Ms. Brown, a stunning brunette seated at the bar, and she was treating the rest of us to that goodness. Not everyone can get away with shorts and high heels, but she was doing her best.

"I feel like a margarita," she said, sitting ramrod straight in her chair, straight enough to cause the fabric of her tank top to stretch upward. "But not exactly. Maybe something different?"

Now I love a woman who loves tequila. It certainly puts the crazy part in crazy, stupid, love.

Instinctively, I was also standing straight. People are often put at ease if you mimic their physical gestures. If they cross their arms, you cross your arms. If they smile, you smile. My goal is to put people at ease. If that person happens to be a gorgeous woman pushing the envelope on material elasticity, well, we all have our crosses to bear.

"How about a watermelon margarita?" I replied.

"I don't like blended drinks. They give me a headache."

"Those are so 1988." And believe me they are.

The interesting thing about fresh fruit margaritas is that you almost always see them blended with ice. An unpleasant prospect for two reasons:

 It makes them too cold. Ice cream headache anyone?

 It overdilutes them, making them taste watery, especially toward the end of the drink.

The way to avoid this unpleasantness is to make a fruit puree first, adding a little sugar, if necessary. Then combine the fruit puree with tequila, triple sec, fresh lime and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake the entire mixture and either strain into a chilled cocktail glass or serve with the ice in a highball. Either way they are delicious.

The beauty of a watermelon, aside from the size, is that no sugar needs to be added and making a puree is as simple as food-processing the flesh of a seedless version until smooth. My recipe for a nonalcoholic version, the Mamarita, appears in local author Erika Lenkert's cookbook, "Healthy Eating During Pregnancy," which also contains special tips for lactating mothers. But I digress again.

I made one for Ms. Brown.

She sucked on the straw slowly through highly glossed lips.

"Watermelon, I never would have thought."

Watermelons are a quintessential summer fruit. Ironically, since watermelons grow year-round, there are ongoing debates about whether they are fruit or vegetable. In fact, in 2007, the watermelon was declared Oklahoma's state vegetable.

Here are some other facts about the watermelon:

 China is the largest cultivator of watermelons in the world. There, the rind is often pickled and served as a vegetable.

 Watermelon may be a natural Viagra, say some researchers. Watermelons are rich in the amino acid citrulline, which relaxes and dilates blood vessels much like drugs meant to treat erectile dysfunction.

 Beer and wine are known to be made from watermelons. However, watermelon liqueurs are most often flavored with artificial watermelon, which tastes like something but not a watermelon.

 Midori melon liquer is not made from watermelons but instead gets its flavor from muskmelons — honeydews, casaba and cantaloupes. Oddly, Armenian cucumbers are also a type of muskmelon.

 In the 1980s drinks called "watermelon this" and "watermelon that" were often made with combinations of Sloe Gin, Southern Comfort and pineapple juice. Yuck.

 Watermelons contain a high amount of lycopene, a carotenoid thought to help reduce the risk of prostate, skin, lung and breast cancer.

All of which I would have happily shared with Ms. Brown had she stuck around. But, she soon rose to leave. Pointing at my wedding ring she asked, "How married are you?"